The album was preceded by the release of two singles: "Ghost", which was also a re-released single from Halsey's introductory EP Room 93 (2014), and "New Americana", which peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in the United States, marking Halsey's first appearance on the chart.

A new version of the song "Castle" was released as the album's fourth single to promote the feature film The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016).

[4] "Gasoline" additionally became one of the album's most popular tracks despite only appearing on the deluxe version of Badlands; it has more than 300 million streams on Spotify.

[15] "Ghost" was released as Halsey's debut single on October 27, 2014, with an accompanying music video filmed in Tokyo, which was directed by Malia James and Ryan Witt.

[22][23] It reached number eight on the Bubbling Under Hot 100[24] and was certified Silver in the UK, Gold in Australia, and double Platinum in the US.

The fourth and final single, "Castle", was released on April 9, 2016 as part of the soundtrack for the film The Huntsman: Winter's War which features an alternative version of the song.

[25] The music video later premiered on April 13, 2016 and peaked at number one on the Bubbling Under Hot 100[20] It was certified Gold in Australia and Platinum in the US.

[26] The song became one of the album's most popular tracks achieving over 100 million streams on Spotify and being certified Gold in Australia and the US.

[27] In a review for Pitchfork, Nathan Reese wrote, "Reading interviews with Halsey you get the sense of a canny and talented performer, one who legitimately wants to connect with fans.

But the public persona only comes through on Badlands in fits and starts, and there isn't a single subversive or original second on the album."

"[30] In a short review, Rolling Stone's Joe Levy called Halsey a "new popstar with a knack for sticky imagery".